Eating Their Young

Michelle Malkin complains bitterly in her latest column about Republican criticism of conservative talk radio. This is delightful! It's called "eating your young!" Devouring each other in a radical circular firing squad, Malkin complains that moderate Republicans are actually saying "sit down and shut up" to the "ditto heads."

"But now, we have establishment Republicans parroting liberal ad hominem rhetoric: Talk-radio hosts are talentless blabbermouths. Their listeners are mind-numbed robots. Or, as supposed free-market conservative and McCain supporter Phil Gramm put it in his broadside against talk radio in the Washington Post last week: "They say they have principles, but some of it is their ego and power, too. They're well-known, and they're used to having power."

Hearing this "pit bull" of the conservative right wing pols, "trash-talking GOP politicians and pundits" is music to my ears.

Rising in the defense of conservative talk radio Malkin offers this:

"In major metropolitan U.S. cities, conservative talk radio offers rare relief from liberal orthodoxy — and local talk show hosts have spearheaded effective activism."

Liberal Orthodoxy?? That's the cutest oxymoron I've heard in a long time. Orthodoxy is the exact opposite of Liberalism! She doesn't even know her "enemy!" Activism yes, but wingnut radio got way past that a LONG time ago.

Hearing Malkin's version of the high ground is interesting. Evidently she considers herself an avocate of "free-market conservatism" holding legitimate opinions and points of view. I have no doubt that Michelle is smart and does the best she can to advocate her political views, she made her bed. She has been the leader of the "trash liberals" at any cost wingnut blogging community. Anything goes when it's the enemy. Name-calling with the best, fast and loose with facts and context, she got her "Pit Bull of the Right-Wing Blogosphere" honestly. Now that broadsides have been fired at her from her own side, she's squirming a little. Delightful!

Rise up Stand up! -UPDATED

Congratulations to our friends in the House of Representatives who finally stood up to the bully. In simply stating their case clearly and distinctly and with passion, they've exposed the simplistic fear-mongering that has highlighted the Presidents dealings with National Security issues. I love Glenn Greenwald's analysis in today's Salon:

If Democrats describe what Bush is doing clearly, simply and honestly, then reporters will write it down and read it. It's what they do. Even reporters can understand that when Bush says: "Give me all the new warrantless eavesdropping powers I want and give AT&T protection from lawsuits, otherwise we'll be hit way worse than 9/11," that is pitiful fear-mongering of the type authoritarian politicians always invoke to obtain more unchecked power. Just make that case -- as Democrats did yesterday -- and it will prevail.

The Falsehoods: Mr. Bush claims that it is the Democrats in Congress that have put us at grave risk to a terrorist threat. Mr. Bush claims that the telecom companies need retroactive immunity for any past misdeeds regarding illegal wiretapping or "they won't cooperate in the future."

These two blatant attempts at bullying and intimidation are false and were exposed by the simple action taken today by the House Democrats. As has previously been posted on this blog, simple FISA 101 says that the President can still surveille to his hearts content IF HE DOES IT LEGALLY. Further, if the Telecoms are presented with a legal warrant they are required to comply! The President simply wants the power to require the telecoms to break or ignore the law at his whim and retroactive immunity would give him that power.

Greenwald again:

The claim that telecoms will cease to cooperate without retroactive immunity is deeply dishonest on multiple levels, but the dishonesty is most easily understood when one realizes that, under the law, telecoms are required to cooperate with legal requests from the government. They don't have the option to "refuse." Without amnesty, telecoms will be reluctant in the future to break the law again, which we should want. But there is no risk that they will refuse requests to cooperate with legal surveillance, particularly since they are legally obligated to cooperate in those circumstances. The claim the telcoms will cease to cooperate with surveillance requests is pure fear-mongering, and is purely dishonest.

The boy has cried wolf so often that the real threat has been obscured and forgotten. Chicken Little has run around scaring us into worrying about the falling sky that we can't remember that it is just the rain. President Bush has been exposed as being willing to protect large corporations rather than protect the country.

American Progress:

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) pointed out that "the president has said that American lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not change FISA. But he has also said that he will veto any FISA bill that does not grant retroactive immunity. ... So if we take the president at his word, he's willing to let Americans die to protect the phone companies."

Stand up Democrats! Speak clearly and passionately.

Our country really can't afford to be bullied any longer by ... George W. Bush's "you're-all-going-to-die-unless- I-get-everything-I-want" threats. - Greenwald

Follow the Money

President Bush was at his fearmongering best this week as he warned of grave danger to America from The Terrorists Who Want To Kill Us. The subject was the renewal of the warrentless wiretapping provision of the Protect America Act. Dangerous talk and also a dangerous exaggeration of a real problem, completely distorted by his blatant political intent.

President Bush:

At this moment, somewhere in the world, terrorists are planning new attacks on our country," he said. "Their goal is to bring destruction to our shores that will make September the 11th pale by comparison. To carry out their plans, they must communicate with each other, they must recruit operatives, and they must share information.

Starkly true but entirely irrelevant. The surveillance will not stop, the lines won't go dark, the country will still be protected. FISA 101! The only thing that changes is that BUSH CAN WIRETAP ANYONE HE WANTS but he has to get a warrent first! He'll have to obey the law!

What's at stake here is simply the ability of the President to force his will on a compliant and fearful Congress once again. His administration is in the endgame of his quest for imperial authority. The tragedy is that he really doesn't care about security in the homeland. Consider his budget and the funding levels for those agencies that would be directly involved with the "new attacks" that the President so stridently warns us about.

Marie Cocco writes at Truthdig.com:

Grants to states and local governments for homeland security and first responders were cut by half from current funding levels, according to an analysis by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Meanwhile, financing for a special urban security program that is intended to replace pork-barrel jockeying among states, with funds better targeted to those cities—New York, Los Angeles and Washington—known to be at greatest risk of attack, is held just about flat. A project meant to help detect a nuclear or radiological device in densely populated cities—was cut by 25 percent, according to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Another to train emergency workers to handle an attack involving weapons of mass destruction also was pared.

What could be more transparent, arrogant, or dishonest? Follow the money. Does Bush really feel that our country is in danger? No! That's a BIG N - O! His sole purpose is simply the expansion of executive power! The War against The Terrorists Who Are Trying To Kill Us is an exaggeration and a blatant manipulation of a real threat for political gain. Follow the money. The Iraq war is not about terrorism or democracy. It's about the Oil.. The Oil! The renewal of the wiretapping legislation is not solely about the War on Terror, it's about gaining power.

At this writing the Democrats in the House of Representatives have withstood this assault on their intelligence and have remained strong in the face of this blatant political attack. That the Senate rolled over so meekly is an indication that the President still thinks he can get away with these tactics. Here's hoping the Democrats in the House finally show some spine.

A Progressive Agenda for Victory

Gary Kamiya of Salon Magazine has written an excellent analysis of the Democratic Party's potential winning strategy for the fall campaign. It can be summed up as follows:

1. America should not be at war with radical Islam, a war that cannot be won with bullets.

2. Al-Qaida WANTS us to stay in Iraq. Our presence in a Moslem country insures that new recruits will be plentiful.

3. Our war in Iraq has invited the Arab-Muslem world to wage guerrilla war against us, essentially negating the vastly superior military force they face.

4. It is the GOP that is endangering our national security by pursuing it's failed military policy in Iraq and that in fact the war is weakening American military strength.

5. The faux-patriotism, flag-waving, and macho posturing should be openly derided.

In his words:

Terrified of appearing "weak on national security," the Democrats have not come right out and said that America should not be at war with radical Islam, because that's a war we cannot win with bullets. They have not hammered home the point that al-Qaida wants us to stay in Iraq, that every day American troops remain in a Muslim country, more jihadis sign up for a holy war against us. They have not pointed out that by invading Iraq, Bush essentially invited the entire Arab-Muslim world to fight a guerrilla war against us, a war that renders our overwhelming military supremacy utterly useless. They have not forcefully argued that it is not the supposedly appeasing Democrats, but Bush and the GOP, who have rashly endangered our national security by persisting in their failed military approach. They have not openly derided the flag-waving, macho posturings of the Republicans.

If this simple advice were to be hammered home again and again during the fall campaign, the democratic candidates would be a lock for election. Will they?

A disturbing point is made by Glenn Greenwald. He feels that a goodly portion of the Congressional Democratic Caucus essentially support the status quo of the current administration's position on national security. The supposedly "bi-partisan" consensus that has given the President victory after victory regarding wiretapping and funding for the war is in actuality the Republican caucus voting 49-0 and the Democrats voting 31-19 usually without exception. The 19 "BlueDogs" including our own Jim Webb, are acting as enablers for the endgame of Bush's grandiose power grab and are backing his war policy.

As always, when it comes to the most radical Bush policies, the GOP lines up lock-step behind them, and the Democrats split, always with more than enough to join the Republicans to ensure passage. That's the process that is called "bipartisanship" in the Beltway.

Greenwald goes on to say:

But a large number of elected Democrats vote in favor of the radical Bush agenda for a very simple reason: they believe in it. Despite the glorious "D" after their name, their views are materially indistinguishable from the defining ones of the Bush faction on the key issues. A huge portion of Congressional Democrats are members of the corrupt, bipartisan Beltway political establishment first, and everything only follows that, and they thus embrace and support the values of that establishment.

That's why Bush has won and -- even with "Democrats in control of Congress" -- continues to win most key votes. The fault lines in the Beltway aren't primarily between Republican and Democrat but between those who support the core values of our political establishment (as reflected by the Bush administration) and those who don't. Through a bulging coalition of both Democrats and Republicans, the pro-establishment forces have a strong, clear and easy majority, and that's why the most radical Bush measures continue not only to prevail, but -- as today -- do so easily.

The Democratic Party's gains in the past election were largely a mirage. It is Progressives that are needed in the halls of Congress and in the White House. The real fight is not Republicans vs Democrats, it is Conservatives vs Progressives. It is Progressive candidates we should be supporting and in the current political climate Progressives can WIN.

Grim News about the Budget

The cruel war is raging. No not the one in Iraq but the one that is just now starting with the Bush Administration's invasion of the domestic budget for this year. Using the time worn technique of "Shock and Awe," Bush has blown gaping holes in domestic programs from A - Z. From the Washington Post and The Center For American Progress an initial casualty list of program cuts::

- Poison Control Centers - 62%
- Rural health programs - 87%
- Community Services Block Grant - 100%
- Health Care for 9/11 workers - 77%
- Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program - 22%
- Even Start (promotes family literacy) 100%
- Grants to states for classroom technology - 100%
- Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants - (for needy undergrads) - 100%
- Robert C. Byrd Scholarship Program - 100%
- The Safe and Drug-Free School Program - 64%
- Federal grants for security, law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical teams - 50%

- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - 430 Million
- Medicare - 170 BILLION over 5 years (cutting funds to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, ambulances and home care agencies.)
- Medicaid - 14 BILLION over 5 years

The total casualty list includes 151 domestic spending proposals.

The Bush budget plan would continue his first-term tax cuts beyond their 2011 expiration date, at a cost to the Treasury of $635 billion through 2013, extend abstinence education programs, create elementary and secondary education vouchers and guard other White House initiatives.

The president also takes aim at programs that Congress has guarded zealously -- and is likely to continue protecting. Among the programs Bush would eliminate are commodity price supports for farmers, research assistance to manufacturers, career and technical education grants, weatherization assistance, community development grants, graduate medical education at children's hospitals and a public housing revitalization program that the House just overwhelmingly reauthorized.

All of this destruction, death and chaos is expressly designed to protect the Tax Cuts that were put in place early in the Bush years. In spite of all the cuts, the budget contains the 2nd largest budget DEFICIT in history, over 400 BILLION dollars. In addition to protecting the tax cuts the Pentagon budget is being INCREASED by 7% to more than 500 BILLION per year plus supplemental funding for the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The battle is joined. Domestic spending.... America.... the homeland... is being invaded and our lives are at stake. Our government has chosen dramatically and forcefully to maintain a military that is being used for Imperialism and to maintain the cash cow of government contracts for big corporations. They've chosen to build bombs and military bases instead of building hospitals, roads, bridges, schools, and providing for the basic social and health care needs of the citizenry. They've chosen to buy guns, not butter. They've chosen tyranny, cruelty, wealth, hubris, and pride instead of compassion, democracy, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

Palestinian Hospitality

This report came in today from The Middle East Peace Making Delegation that recently returned from Gaza. Here is a description of the real people who live and work there and a picture of the humanity and hospitality the group experienced. It is a stark contrast to the news reports we hear and the propaganda we are inundated with in our media. Read on....

Hello, dear friends, here is the promised report on our Palestinian home visit in Beit Umar. Kathy (CPT Team), Joy, Camilia and I visited with the family of Abu Nabil Al Qam.

The extended family of Abu Nabil Al Qam lives in a spacious multi-storied house, in which different nuclear families live on different floors. We were hosted in the only heated room on their floor by the patriarch and matriarch of the family, who have been married for 60 years.

This was a very traditional family. The woman, Um Nabil, did all the cooking, cleaning up, getting chairs when others arrived and putting them out of the way again, carrying in the wood and stoking the fire, etc. while Abu Nabil inclined on the sofa.

Both of them were cordial and warm towards us in spite of the language barrier. They only spoke Arabic. Kathy speaks some Arabic, and one of the daughters speaks fairly good English, however she was with us only for a while in the evening.

We were served a typical meal of rice and chicken and flat bread (baked in an electric special bread maker) and tea. Um Nabil served us 4 on plates, the rest ate from the big platter, without utensils. Joy and I shared a plate simply because there was so much food piled on to it that we could not each eat such a big portion. As soon as we were half way done, Um Nabil separated more chicken pieces with her hands from the big platter and piled it on our plates.

There were several adults and children present and more came in during the course of the evening. Some of them were members of the extended family, some friends who just dropped in. I could not tell for sure who was who. The men were talking in one half of the heated room (on one side of the stove which stood in the middle) and the ladies were all on the other side of the room, with the English speaking daughter among us. The children moved freely among either group. One of Abu Nabil’s adult sons is retarded, and it was good to see how he was always part of what was going on, being included, joking in his way with others, and completely integrated. He was a cheerful sort.

Our hostess had asked us earlier at what time we would like to go to sleep. We had not had that privilege before and opted for 8:30 p.m. Promptly at 8:30, the guests were cleared out of “our” room, the family withdrew to other parts of the house and left the only heated room for us. There was a pile of heavy blankets on one of the sofas. AFTER we had turned off the light and were tucked into our sleeping bags (this time nice and warm and not in our regular clothes), Um Nabil came back into the room in her nightie and picked up the pile of blankets we did not need. Not only had they given us the warm room, but also the blankets they need for themselves! Palestinian hospitality!!

Early the next morning, Um Nabil came in carrying a thick log to put on the fire (on the left side of the picture, - the opening is not visible here). Inside the stove is a tray with gravel on it which she uses to place pots for cooking food.

We enjoyed the comfort of a “real” bathroom but avoided the commotion of showers. When I came back to the warm room after my turn in the bathroom, Abu Nabil was sitting on the sofa next to my clothes. Fortunately I was wearing my long kaftan for easy changing in such situations. I proceeded to dress under my kaftan while Abu Nabil watched my proceedings. It was a bit awkward, I have to admit. When I finally reached for my long pants it dawned on him what I was doing and took flight. I guess all he wanted was to warm up.

Um Nabil fixed breakfast for us with all the typical things we had encountered by then, stirring the tahini with her fingers. The only additional and very tasty thing added was a hot dish of some tomato puree.

This was the only time during our Palestine/Israel visit that we were warm during the meeting, dinner, night, and breakfast.

A memorable experience in more ways than one.
Peace to you all,
Karen